it by captain King, was correct.*

[* See _Cook's third Voyage_, Vol. III. page 484.]

At one o'clock we hauled round the rocks which lie off the Cape Point,
and steered into False Bay. Near these rocks were two whales; and one or
more of what seamen call _thrashers_ were engaged in a furious combat
with them, at a less distance than half a mile from the ship. The sinewy
strength of the thrasher must be very great; for besides raising his tail
high out of the water to beat the adversary, he occasionally threw the
whole of his vast body several feet above the surface, apparently to fall
upon him with greater force. Their struggles covered the sea with foam
for many fathoms round.

At three o'clock we got sight of the squadron lying in Simon's Bay. It
consisted of His Majesty's ships Lancaster, Jupiter, Diomede, Imperieuse,
Hindoostan, Rattlesnake, and Euphrosyne, under the command of
vice-admiral sir Roger Curtis, Bart. The master of the Lancaster came on
board to pilot the ship to a proper berth, and I went on shore to wait
upon the vice-admiral. On showing my orders, and presenting an account of
the supplies and the work requisite to put the Investigator in the same
state as on leaving England, I found that the naval magazines could
furnish only some part, and that many articles, especially biscuit, were
not to be obtained; but with great consideration for the service on which
I was sent out, the commander in chief ordered every request to be
granted either in the articles specified, or by substitution; and a
thorough caulking, both within and without side of the ship, being the
work most essential to be done, a gang of caulkers, collected from the
squadron, was sent on board on the following morning.

SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 1801

The water which is conducted in pipes to the wharf, for the convenience
of shipping, was said not to keep well at sea; and the master of the
Lancaster, from whom this information was obtained, recommended, as much
superior, that which drains through the sand, from the hills on the north
side of Simon's Bay. I went, accordingly, to make an examination; and
found that by sinking a cask in the sand, with the head out and the upper
hoops taken off, the water drained through the spaces between the staves,
sufficiently fast for our purpose. This plan was therefore adopted; and
the watering of the ship immediately commenced.

Having seen this, and some other duties set forward under the proper
of